wow, looks like I got a lot of searching to do. I did quite like the 1975 "Concert Classics" (!?) album, which had something called "Klingklang" which sounded a lot more like the land they use on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood when they go into Make-Believe land, it's really goood

still listening to "Nippon Numbers", I just remembered that Ralf kind of starts rapping two-thirds through Autobahn, all the places you can go "Auf Leon auf Madrid auf der Autobahn"...then to "Auf Hongkong auf Tokyo auf der Aero-plane", ha!!

As part of Kraftwerk's eight-night retrospective New York museum residency this month, the band will release a limited-edition box set of all eight of their albums. 2,000 copies of the set will be sold on the Museum of Modern Art's website, and at gift shops in the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan and MoMA/PS1 in Queens. It'll include remastered versions of the set released in 2009 (the massive reissue The Catalogue).

Pitchfork's phrasing is kinda unclear - it's a limited edition, 2000 copies, numbered edition of the Catalogue box in a black sleeve (original was white). I'm a MOMA member, so I bought one - $175 after taxes and shipping.

Appalled that the ruthless director of Kling Klang is doing such grossly mercantile things as: diligently learning and rehearsing multiple arrangements of dozens of songs, to be performed once each, for a hugely remunerative audience of approx 10000 payers over a week

Kraftwerk revisited the “Autobahn” album rather than reproducing its exact timbres and proportions. It held on to its instrumental passages and the generally somber melodic lines of the album’s other tracks but played them from a changed perspective — for instance, trading the album’s upbeat hints of 1950s and ’60s rock for something more steady-state. The most transformed track was “Morgenspaziergang” (“Morning Walk”), which in 1974 juxtaposed synthesized burbles and tweets — oscillator birdsong — with its tune played on a wooden flute. Now the tune came from a keyboard, true to the latter-day Kraftwerk.

Went last night. Very well done by the MOMA. Ticket pick up was easy, the room wasn't crowded in the least (could have fit at least 100 more folks in there, if they wanted.) Radio-Activity pasrt of the shwo was the highlight (naturally) and they followed it up with a nice lengthy version of Autobahn where, I think, they mixed things up a bit from the original. Trans Europe Express was a standout as well.

Even though it was a great event I can't help thinking that there will probably be an SNL skit making fun of these shows. The teutonic seriousness in which they were presented could easily be seen as comic by some.

At this point they're essentially a tribute band to themselves ... which could only really work with them. They are machines after all. I would bet Ralf has plans to have himself replaced in the band eventually.

I can deal with the absence of Bartos and Flur but it's really not the same without Schneider, who I always thought was the soul of Kraftwerk. That ghost of a half-smile that he always carried was synecdoche for the sly humour I referred to above.

Totally agree. Without Schneider it's not Kraftwerk. And Bartos and Flur are under-appreciated I think - after all, both were in the band for 15 years. Schneider and Hutter have done practically nothing without them.

that's basically OTM, it's always been about Hutter and Schneider for me, though I'm reasonably certain that Bartos is responsible for a lot of their more brilliant melodic stuff, hence why I don't think new music coming out of these guys is going to sound like their glory years

Yeah impression I got was that Techno Pop was really the last gasp, since Bartos wrote the catchy melodies. Once he was gone there's only increasing production values. What Ralf can manage now is to tour a greatest-hits show in perpetuity - which I think is a bit sad when you consider that there are tons of younger people who would love to write pop material in a Kraftwerk style. Ralf doesn't have to be the sole writer in the band (along with his manager). But this is all just hope since I would love to have a new record that's better than Soundtracks.

I say all this but I'm still really excited about soundboard from these leaking!